High Intensity Bodybuilding

Here are some advanced techniques for seasoned bodybuilders. Use then when
you feel as if you need a boost in the gym to promote muscle growth when
your regular workouts just aren't getting results.

Increasing Intensity: The simplest way to increase intensity is to add
more plates to the bar. This way "shocks" muscles to reacting and forces
them to adapt to be able to handle heavier poundages.

Shorter Rest Period: To maximize growth try reducing your rest time between
sets. This way you shock your muscles into reacting to the added pressure.
So if you are resting 2 minutes between sets now reduce your rest period to
1 minute between sets.

Partial Reps: This is when your muscle is exhausted at the end of a set,
you continue the movement through half or as much as you can of it. It's
simply a way of adding more intensity to a set than you wouldn't be able
to do with the normal range of motion.

Pyramid Training: This is where you increase the poundage and decrease the
rep range in an exercise in each set of that exercise. Its called pyramid
training and the idea is to add more "shock" to your muscles. Its a very
commonly used technique and can be used more regularly than other advanced
techniques.

For example when doing lat pulldowns on a lat machine, do 12 reps with an
easy enough poundage for one set, for the next set do 10 reps with a heavier
poundage, for the next set do 8 reps with an even heavier poundage yet and
finally for the last set do 6 reps with as much as you can handle.

Stripping: This means at the end of a set when your muscles are giving out
with fatigue, you stop and remove 20-40% off the bar or machine and
continue the exercise movement until you are again fatigued, then you take
another 20-40% of the bar or machine and continue until you can do no more.
By all means continue to keep removing plates as you see fit, it's sure to
seriously work your muscles.

Compound Sets: Do two exercises for the same bodypart one after the other,
with no rest in between.

Tri-Sets: Like compound Sets except you will be doing three exercises for
the same bodypart back to back, with no rest in between.

Rest-Pause: Rest-Pause is where during a set when your muscle is fatigued
you stop for a few seconds to catch your breath and let the target muscle
rest a little, then you do more reps, etc. The benefit is that while you
would fatigue quicker with a normal set, with rest-pause you take a
slight break and can end up doing more reps per set thus working your
muscle even harder.